New Weigh Station Will Keep Truckers From Bypassing State Law

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ALMA (KFSM) -- The Arkansas Highway Department received a nearly $1 million grant to build a virtual weigh station on Highway 64 between Alma and Van Buren.

Highway officials said they believe some semi-truck drivers are using the highway to bypass a weigh station on Interstate 40. Officials said drivers coming from Oklahoma heading east are using the Interstate 540 junction in Van Buren to get on Highway 64.

The new virtual weigh station is expected to become active on Highway 64 in a couple of months.

"The officers will be in the area. We will get a notification on their laptops and they will identify that specific truck and it will be more efficient for them to stop just the ones that are over weight. Then, we will actually weigh them to make sure it's right and then we will issue the citation from there," said Cpl. Tracy Morris with the Arkansas Highway Department.

Morris said about 270 semis come through the Interstate 40 weigh station in a 24-hour period. A five-axle truck is not supposed to weigh more than 80,000 pounds.

He said he believes most drivers avoiding the weigh station do so because of safety or weight limit violations.

Highway officials said once the virtual weigh station is in place, they will place signs for drivers to see at both junctions they are using to avoid the weigh station.

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4 comments

This entire line of reasoning is ignorant. But then again,the purpose of this story is just to justify the expenditure to the Arkansas citizenry.
Drivers aren’t avoiding the weigh station because they’re necessarily doing anything wrong,most are just trying to avoid being hassled(read:unnecessarily scrutinized) while trying to do their jobs,and having the state try to pad their coffers by doing vehicle inspections so they can try to levy fines that take wages out of their pockets,and puts their careers in jeopardy because of the new CSA nonsense.
Being a trucker is one of the most stressful jobs there is,if you’re not trying to avoid and deal with morons on the road that think your truck can stop,and maneuver on a dime, you have law enforcement trying to harass you with undue scrutiny to threaten your livelihood.
Next time do some research before you go on television and try to smear truckers as criminals and outlaws.
With all of the NATIONWIDE scrutiny drivers receive DAILY,who is it that’s hauling all of this so called “contraband”?